It may seem simple enough, but there are actually three guidelines to keep in mind when you underline or highlight your textbook. Consider the following:

Read a section before you underline or highlight it. Often information that seems important turns out not to be so important after you read the entire section.

Do not underline or highlight too much. If you underline everything it is just as useless as underlining nothing. Try to only underline about 15 percent of the information on any given page or section.

Make the major points stand out clearly. You can develop special markings to use on major points so they are set apart from other information.